


Tremors by Moonlight

by TallyDubh



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Grant Ward Isn't Hydra, Mild Gore, NSFW, Not Canon Compliant, Oral Sex, Time Travel Shenanigans, Weeping Angels in the MCU, Werewolf Mates, Werewolf Ward, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-27 11:06:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10017068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TallyDubh/pseuds/TallyDubh
Summary: Years ago, more than he’d like to really think of, Grant had been human. He was turned into a monster against his will, and is now under the control of a sadistic madman loyal to HYDRA.A collection of short stories all taking place in the same AU. Update: Please note the new rating level!





	1. The Clairvoyant

Years ago, more than he’d like to really think of, Grant had been human. He’d been an angry, broken boy. And they had taken advantage of that. He’d thought, in his naivety that John Garrett was a mentor, someone who would help him move past the pain and anger of his childhood. He’d been wrong. 

A fact that had become excruciatingly clear to him on the day he’d woken in the woods, naked and covered in blood. That had been the day that Grant had seen the real Garrett, a sadistic man who’d been given the means to destroy others very effectively. It had taken nearly a year for Grant to accept the fact that he would never be free, that John Garrett held the end of a very short leash. So Grant had tamed the beast that now lived in his chest, and he bowed before a man that he despised even more than his own father. 

The beast, the wolf, had taught him patience, had taught him that sometimes the predator must pretend to be prey to survive. So he’d survived, he’d honed the strength and speed this change had made in him, and he hid. He buried the power deep inside himself, and he waited while his wolf slept. 

They sent him to the Bus, made it look like it was Coulson’s choice to bring him along, and Grant found himself in a situation he wasn’t prepared for. His wolf woke, and laid claim to these people. He bowed to Coulson, at first with the same reluctant rage he felt toward Garrett, but slowly he began to respect the man. He struggled for dominance with May and found a form of respect he’d never felt before, one of a fellow warrior. The wolf in his chest claimed her as an equal. Fitz and Jemma he saw as beloved Omegas, indulged and supported, but always protected.

And Skye, pretty vibrant Skye. His wolf claimed her as a mate, as his partner, and he lusted in a way he hadn’t in a very long time. He fought it because he knew that she could never accept the wolf, could never accept the curse they had put on him. Grant redirected that lust to May, and his wolf raged. Grant knew that he was becoming shorter with his… pack, aggressive and snappish. Many times he had to walk away, retreat to his bunk and force the wolf out of his eyes. 

Killing Nash hadn’t been his choice, Garrett had pressed against the connection between them. He could have resisted, he should have resisted. But his wolf had whispered that one broken man on his last leg was better than playing his hand now. The human part of him had been shaken at that, and he’d spent the entire ride back to the Bus reinforcing the control he’d fought so hard to keep with his wolf. The scariest part of the whole situation had been how close he’d been to ruining it all, laying all of it out at Skye’s feet and begging her to help him when she’d come into the Cage. 

He’d… he couldn’t say if he’d won that battle or not, didn’t really know which would have been a better course of action. 

***

He’d felt the plane change course, had scrambled to understand why Coulson would dump an ICEd May into the Cage with him. But the moment he stepped into the lounge and had seen Garrett he’d begun to understand, and then Grant’s eyes had fallen on the screen behind Garrett. His blood ran cold, and he felt his eyes bleed into the black and yellow of his wolf peering out. HYDRA was stepping out of the shadows, and if he knew anything about the future, he knew this.

One of his pack was at the Hub, alone with people Grant didn’t trust. The bastard who had slit his belly open and changed him into this monster was in his den. The Bus was headed for the Hub and HYDRA had revealed themselves. There was no need for patience now, there was no need to hide any longer. Now was the time to act, to gain his revenge and protect his pack at all costs. Grant turned his eyes to Skye’s and felt the low whine build in his throat as she noticed the change. But it was too late now if he continued to try to hide his pack could be hurt. 

“No, Hand isn’t the Clairvoyant, you are. And I’m done pretending to be your LAPDOG!” In a flash of claws, and bared fangs, Grant bore Garrett to the floor of the plane. The blood was sweet on his tongue as he clamped his jaws over the bastard’s throat, but not sweet enough to drown out Skye’s shrill scream of fear. 

He wanted, so very much wanted to make this bastard die slow and bloody, but he knew he was running out of time. He’d trained Skye, knew that even now she was reaching for the ICER on the Holotable, she was going to shoot him. He couldn’t risk it, he couldn’t risk letting Garrett live. 

With a growl rumbling in his throat, Grant tore his head and Garrett’s throat away from the rest of the bag of meat. Not even a Wolf as powerful and old as Garrett could survive that. He stayed over the body, letting the mutilated piece of meat slip from his jaws as he panted. It was the last thing he remembered, that and the sting of the ICER hitting his shoulder. 

***

The throbbing in his head is what woke him, a pounding, splitting headache that not even his heightened level of healing could save him from. His nose told him that Skye was in the Cage with him, her soft scent of lemon peel and mint filled his head. It made his heart ache, and his wolf whine at the thought that she wouldn’t even be able to look at him now that she knew the truth. 

“Ward?” Her voice sent a shiver down his spine, and this time, it wasn’t just the wolf in his chest that whined. He tried to ignore the soft intake of breath, but he couldn’t ignore the bitter edge to her scent as fear took over. 

“You had better have an ICER trained on me Skye, my control is shaky around you normally, and I can still taste his blood on my tongue.” Grant’s voice was more growl than it had ever been, and he struggled to sit up, to shove his wolf down far enough to act human at least. 

“You trained me better than that, Ward. I just… I want answers. Tell me what the hell is going on with you?! You just tore a man’s throat out with your TEETH!” Giving up on moving, Grant settled back down onto the floor and finally peeled his eyes open to stare at the pattern on the ceiling. 

“Garrett was HYDRA. He was sent to pull me into the fold. When they realized that their normal forms of brainwashing and manipulation wouldn’t work on me, Garrett turned me. I’m a Werewolf, he was one too. There’s a certain magic, a connection between wolves. They used that to control me, to force me to do things I didn’t want to do.” Even to his own ears, he could hear the hollowness in his voice, but it was better than the pleading he wanted to put in it. 

“Okay. If… if what you say is true, why didn’t you ever tell anyone? Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you.” That was enough to have Grant sitting up, careful to not break the cuffs around his wrists. They would part like paper if he wasn’t careful, and there was no need for a powerplay with Skye. 

“Don’t you get it, Skye? I’m a monster, they make monster movies about my kind. And I never asked for this! I never asked for my fucking wolf to claim you as my mate! I never asked for him to claim the whole fucking team as pack!” His teeth clicked together before he could say more, but it was too late, he’d already said too much. The world around him sharpened, the colors an almost blinding brightness. 

Before he could press it all down again Skye was striding across the cage, her face twisted into a mask of annoyance. Even with his reflexes, he could still be surprised. And boy was he ever when her small hand had cracked across his cheek in a stinging blow. 

“Pull yourself together! Jemma is alone at the Hub! This plane is being remote controlled into the hanger there, and we need all the fucking help we can get to fix this! If we’re really your fucking pack then HELP US! But if you’re too much of a fucking puppy, then stay where you are and sulk!” She turned smartly on her heel and stormed from the Cage, throwing one last jab at him before she disappeared. 

“And your confidence in my ability to accept all the weird shit is very heartening! Great way to treat your MATE!” 

It took him several seconds for everything to settle into his mind, for all of the implications of what she’d just said to coalesce. Once it had, a grin spread across his face and he jumped to his feet to follow her. She hadn’t freaked out, she hadn’t denied any of it. Maybe… maybe being a wolf wasn’t such a bad thing after all. 

  
  



	2. Time Travel Shenanigans

The team was investigating a concerning string of missing people, all of which had last been seen entering the local high school. It was mid-summer, the school was empty after about 5pm every day, and yet people were disappearing. The readings that had been gleaned during recon had been concerning enough to warrant sending in the big hitters. 

No matter how many time Skye saw her mate’s eyes flare in the beam of a flashlight, she couldn’t stop the spike of fear that ran down her spine. She’d come to love that feeling, though, it normally led to a great deal of fun after a mission. His nostrils flared and one dark brow lifted, but it didn’t matter. She had never been ashamed to let him know he turned her on. 

“Focus on the task at hand,” Ward growled, turning to look back down the darkened hallway. Why they had to do this in the dark, Skye didn’t understand, but she bowed to Ward’s wisdom in this. The school was all on one level, plus the basement, so they decided they would split into teams. Jemma and Fitz would take readings, while Skye and Ward would play bodyguard for them. 

“Alpha Team, you’re with me and Dr. Simmons. Bravo Team, you’re with Quake and Dr. Fitz. Keep your radios on, and keep your head on a swivel.” Ward lifted his gun to his shoulder and turned down the left hallway, Jemma, and three other SHIELD Agents on his heels. Skye laid her hand gently on Fitz’s shoulder and when he nodded they took a hard right and descended into the basement of the building. 

They hadn’t been searching for more than an hour before Fitz’s phone chirped. Absently, he pulled it from his pocket, never taking his eyes off the readouts he was getting from his Retrievers spread across the lower level. 

What happened next Skye could never really get straight in her head. The tablet that Fitz had been holding slid from his fingers to fall to the concrete floor and their radios started screaming. Gunfire and shouting could be heard, but very little made sense. 

“What the fuck is that!?”

“Where’s Dr. Simmons!?”

“She was here just a second ago!”

“What do you mean she’s gone!? She can’t have just disappeared into thin air!” 

“Fuck! Don’t take your eyes off it!” 

“Bravo Team! Retreat! Get the fuck out of the building! Don’t take your eyes off Dr. Fitz or Quake!” 

Ward’s voice seemed to snap Skye back into focus, and she was shocked to see that all the blood had drained out of Fitz’s face. But whatever it was could wait, had to wait. They needed to get out of there, and that meant Fitz had to pull it together. 

“Fitz! I need you to recall the Retrievers so we can get the hell out of here!” The man blinked at her several times before he seemed to actually see her, and still she had to shake him by his shoulders to get his ass in gear. 

Within minutes they were rushing up the stairs and out the door of the building. Skye grabbed Fitz by the arm as they ran and didn’t let go until they reached the SUV. Then it was Fitz grabbing on to her as she turned back toward the building.

“It’s not safe!”

She yanked her arm away. “I have to go! I can’t leave him in there alone!” His fingers closed on air when he tried a second time to stop her, but the action didn’t even register as she sprinted back into the building. Not a single member of the Alpha team had been present outside, and that alone sent fear down her spine. 

Skye skidded around a corner inside the building and froze. Alpha team and Ward were standing in a semi-circle, facing what appeared to be an angel statue. It was standing in the middle of the hallway and something about its very existence had the hair on the back of Skye’s neck standing on end. 

“What the fuck are you doing here, Skye!? I ordered you to retreat.” Ward’s tone was enough to let Skye know that she was in trouble. But it was better to be in trouble, and have him, then be a good girl and lose him. 

“And leave you to deal with this on your own? It’d never get done.” She saw Ward’s lip curl out of the corner of her eye, but some instinct told her to keep her eyes on the statue in front of her. 

“Can you shatter it?” Ward’s deep voice was soft and held a growl that she rarely heard from him. His question made her really think for a moment because she wasn’t certain that she  _ could _ shatter it. But… 

“There's only one way to find out.” Taking several deep breaths, Skye focused her entire being on pulling the energy up from the earth below her, channeling it through her body and out her hands. The feeling of that raw power running through her body was still a new feeling for her, and it always gave her such a rush when she did it. 

It started with a pressure in her ears and grew steadily louder. The rumble had reached a painful level before the first crack appeared across the statues hands. Ward had his hands clamped tight to his ears by the time the statue reached critical mass and collapsed into fine gravel. The members of Alpha team sagged and leaned against each other, or the walls, while Ward jerked Skye into a tight hug. He was never more than an arm’s reach from her the rest of the day, and she understood why after she’d heard the debrief. Whatever that statue had been, it had done nothing more than touch Jemma and she was gone. Or, that was the educated guess anyway, because no one had actually seen the thing move. They had just noticed that it had been in a different spot every time none of them had eyes on it. 

A full sweep of the building and surrounding area showed no sign of Jemma. And it was only when they’d returned to the Bus to have Fitz bring the Retrievers back out to search for her that they found out the truth. 

Fitz had received a lengthy email from Jemma down in that basement, and the contents of it were shocking. The Weeping Angel, as she called it, was a creature that had a rather convoluted way of killing people. When they touched a person, that person was transported back in time. That was all she had been able to learn with the limited access to information that she had. 

But the email had also held a wealth of personal information, had told a story of love and regret that had Skye in tears. Jemma had found her husband within minutes of waking in the past, a gentleman who had been taken by her fierceness and her accent. She’d had four children, and it wasn’t until she had received the consolation letter that she had made the connection. Jemma had named her son after a childhood hero, only to find out later that her little Bucky had been named after himself. 

Skye could not wrap her mind around how horrible that must have been for Jemma, to suddenly realize exactly what had happened, and what was going to happen to her child. Without really speaking of it, the team got to work. They would track down their friend’s son, and they would help him in any way they could. 

 


	3. Best Christmas Present

The scene kept replaying over and over in his head, no matter how far and how fast he ran. The fight had gone smoothly. The Avengers has discovered a HYDRA cell, and had passed the information on to them to deal with. They’d infiltrated the base as easily as expected, had encountered maybe two dozen goons and a small team of scientists. 

It had appeared to be nothing more than the normal scuffle and arrest that they’d been doing for months now. That is until Skye had slumped to the ground after using her powers, and they had rushed her back to the Playground for medical attention. Bobbie had shooed Grant out of the infirmary after the third time he’d snarled at her for touching Skye. Which is how he’d found himself in full fur running laps around the base in three foot of snow. 

‘She’s okay. She has to be.’ The words echoed through his head, even as the frigid air burned down his throat and into his lungs. He was starting to tire out, and his wolf was finally starting to settle enough that he might be able to resist biting every person who touched her. 

The wind brought her scent to his nose before the entrance to the base came into view. And as it always did, the scent of lemon peel and mint calmed him. With a final push of his endurance, he burst through the tree line into view and came to a halt in front of her. She giggled as he sprayed her with the fresh powder, and bent to dig her gloved hands into the ruff around his neck. 

Still, concern overrode his happiness at seeing her back on her feet, and he stuffed his cold nose under her scarf to sniff at her. She didn’t smell sour, didn’t smell like she was sick or injured. In fact, she smelled… sweeter than normal. Skye sighed softly and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. 

“I’m sorry I worried you. I’m okay. Bobbie says it was low blood sugar.” Grant huffed and wriggled out of her grip. He trotted over to the base door and stood on his hind legs to reach the scanner. It had taken some convincing, but Koenig had finally added his paw scan to the database. No matter how fast he healed, he still transformed back to human naked and it was too damned cold for that nonsense right now. 

The two of them worked their way back to their room in silence, and the scent of worry rose from Skye the closer they came. Low blood sugar was a good excuse, but that smell was enough to tell him that she’d lied to him. That it wasn’t just low blood sugar that had made her pass out before. 

He had already started the transformation before Skye had finished closing the door to their room. So that by the time she turned around she was met with the sight of his bare ass as he rummaged through a drawer for a pair of boxer briefs. He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t hide his smirk at her low wolf whistle. 

Turning back to her after he’d pulled on the underwear, he felt his heart clench at the sight of her. She was standing just inside the door, her back pressed to it, wringing her scarf between her hands. That burning scent of worry and fear still clogged his nose and he crossed the room in two long strides to cup her shoulders in his hands. 

“Skye, darling, I can smell your worry. Tell me what’s going on, you know that I am here for you.” Grant could feel her trembling under his hands, but after a moment of staring at his chest, she took a deep breath. Squaring her shoulders she looked up into his eyes and said two words he never thought he’d ever hear out of her mouth. 

“I’m pregnant.” It took a moment for the reality of what she’d said to settle into his mind, but after it had he could feel the smile splitting his face in two. He pulled her into his arms, being careful not to crush her. After a moment, she nearly melted, her arms going around him. But his own happiness dimmed for a moment when the scent of salt reached his nose. 

Scooping her into his arms he moved to sit on the bed, letting her curl into his lap as she continued to cry. Suddenly worried that this wasn’t something she wanted, he tried to push his own feelings to the side. 

“Skye? Are you… what’s wrong?” And even though he tried to pull her away to meet her eyes, she shook her head and refused to move her face from his neck. Rubbing his hand up and down her back, he tried not to think about what it is he wanted. But none of that mattered when she finally seemed to pull herself together enough to whisper into his neck. 

“These are happy tears, Grant. I… I’m just really happy that this is something you want too. Best Christmas present ever, right?” He couldn't help but agree.


	4. It's Muse's Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Muse prompted me in the comments on the last chapter, and this spawned from it. I hope you enjoy, and please note the new rating!

Grant liked to think that he was not a slave to his base instincts, that he could ignore his body’s needs, or those of his wolf. He had been trained as a sniper, after all, trained to sit in one position for hours, or even days on end, ignoring everything but what was through the scope of his rifle. But that was before he’d met Skye, before the smell of lemon peels and mint had invaded his head and heart. Her scent calmed him on most days, reminding his wolf that she was near and safe, that he wasn’t alone anymore. 

At that moment, however, there was an underlying spice to her scent that had him so thoroughly distracted that he missed a question that May asked him. The team was standing around the table in Coulson’s office, debriefing after a failed mission to find Bucky. The HYDRA base had been nothing but a pile of smoldering ashes and debris by the time they’d gotten to it. All evidence pointed to a massive explosion, and The Retrievers had identified it as C4. What little of the security footage they had found had shown Bucky invading the base. 

“We have to assume that he was the one that blew the building sky high. Can we also assume that whatever hold HYDRA had on him has been broken?” May asked again, this time kicking Grant’s ankle to get his attention. Grant startled, tore his eyes away from Skye’s profile and cleared his throat. 

“What? Oh, yes. The last I’d heard from Garrett, they were planning on ‘retiring’ The Asset with the launch of Insight. Apparently, whatever methods they were using to keep him under control were starting to fail and he was becoming more of a liability than a help.” Grant desperately tried to keep his eyes off Skye, but another spike of that mouthwatering scent met his nose. He could feel his wolf peering out of his eyes the next moment and closed them. He needed to get a grip, or he would be no use to the rest of the Team. Leaving Skye long enough for missions was harder than he thought it would be, and only the thought of her safe in their den kept his wolf from taking control completely. 

“From what I’ve managed to decrypt of the files that were dumped onto the web with the failure of Insight, they had some pretty horrible methods of controlling him. Memory wipes, a cocktail of drugs to keep him docile, cryofreeze between missions to keep him from escaping. I haven’t been able to figure out if they turned him as well, but I’m still looking.” Skye’s voice helped settle his wolf a little, allowing the man to focus once again. They were quick to finish up the debrief after that, none of them really wanting to think about the torture their friend’s son had endured at the hands of HYDRA. 

Grant waited until everyone but Coulson had left, nodded to the Director, and closed the door behind him. Skye was standing at the bottom of the stairs, her nose buried in her tablet. She was breathtaking, she always had been. But now, now she had his heart clenching in his chest every time he saw her. A pair of black leggings and one of his t-shirts didn’t stop her from being the most beautiful creature in the room. The small swell of her belly, visible even under the shirt, had his wolf grumbling out a pleased noise. 

But that scent was there again, teasing his nose, and he knew what he needed to do. A chuckle rumbled his chest when Skye squeaked in surprise as he lifted her into his arms. She flung her arms around his neck, careful not to smack him with her tablet. 

“Grant? What?” Her surprised questions didn’t stop the smile from spreading over her face, however. He knew she loved all the little romantic things he did for her. Bringing flowers back from missions, and the ring on her middle finger he’d seen at a bazaar in Australia the last time they’d been there. He’d gotten an earful from May for shopping while he was supposed to be ghosting a target, but she’d let it go when she’d seen how happy the ring had made Skye. 

“You think I can’t smell that you need me? Just relax, Skye. Let me take care of you.” He murmured it against her hair, even as his long legs ate the distance to their quarters. Her scent spiked again, the spicy-sweet scent of her arousal overpowering the lemon peel and mint of her shampoo. 

It didn’t take him long to have them in their room with the door locked behind them, nor did he waste any time in laying Skye out on their bed. Before he would have dropped her, letting her bounce and giggle at him being silly, but now, now he had to be more careful. He knew better than to treat her like spun glass, delicate and breakable, but it was what he wanted to do. She would kill him if he tried to wrap her in cotton and lock her in the den until she whelped. 

Her leggings slid off with ease, she set her tablet on the nightstand, and the next moment he was hovering over her, kissing the breath out of her. Her hands scrambled at his waist, but he resisted. He wouldn’t lay on her, no matter how much she liked the feel of his weight pressing her into the mattress. Grant slid his lips across her jaw, feeling gooseflesh race over his skin at the moan she let out. 

“You… have training with… the new recruits in… like fifteen minutes.” Skye’s voice came out breathless and shaky, and Grant had to chuckle again at her. Her mind only ever shut up after a hard orgasm, and he was intent on doing exactly that. Grant allowed his hands to roam as he pressed open-mouthed kisses to her neck, a purring rumble started up in his throat as her scent filled his head. 

“I need half that time to do what I plan. So just relax and let me.” Even while he said it, his fingers tweaked one of her nipples through the thin material of the shirt. Her back arched, pressing her breast further into his hand, and another of those low moans shuddered through her. It didn’t take much to brush the shirt up out of his way so he could suck her other nipple into his mouth. He wasn’t nearly as surprised as he could have been to see that she didn’t have a bra on. She’d been making noises about her breasts hurting when she wore one. 

While his lips and tongue distracted her, his hands slid further down, stopping for just a moment to brush a soft caress over the swell that housed his pup before continuing on. He pulled off one nipple with a wet pop, but only a second later he’d switched to the other. All the while his hands were busy pulling her underwear down her thighs. The moment she was bare his senses were flooded with her, making his eyes roll into the back of his head.

Ever since he’d allowed himself to be the wolf that he’d been turned into, his sense of smell had become something he savored. And this scent right here was his favorite, that blend of spicy arousal and the sweet honey that was his pup had him moaning low in his throat. 

Sitting up onto his knees, he tossed her underwear over his shoulder. The shaky gasp Skye let out let him know that his eyes were yellow again, and he couldn’t help the grin that lifted his lips. How he could have ever thought she would fear his wolf he couldn’t fathom, but he was certainly glad that he had been wrong. 

He took a moment to soak in the sight of her, laid out on their bed in nothing but his shirt. Her chest was heaving as she panted, and her delicate fingers were grasping at the blanket under her. Keeping his fingers soft against her skin, Grant shifted their position until he was laid out on his stomach between her thighs. He'd licked a single long stripe up her slit, avoiding her clit, when those same delicate fingers clenched into his hair. 

She tasted like dark chocolate, a luscious bittersweetness that had fast become an addiction of his, and he indulged himself in it as often as she’d let him. Setting himself to his chosen work, he licked across her slick flesh in long strips, being careful not to stimulate her clit too much, too soon. He knew he had a time constraint, but he couldn’t bring himself to rush things, so he built her up slowly. 

It wasn’t as easy to see her face now, the pup was in the way, but he caught glimpses as she thrashed above him. Skye’s breathless moans and strangled cries of his name had his dick twitching in his pants. Grant ignored his own body, this wasn’t about him after all. A tug on his hair and a high whine from her were what he was waiting for, and when they came he clamped his lips around her neglected clit and sucked. 

It was like he’d set a live wire against her. Her thighs clamped around his ears, her back arched hard enough that her shoulders lifted off the bed, and the grip she had on his hair became painful in its intensity. Growling, he pressed the flat of his tongue against her clit and even though her thighs muffled the sound, he heard her scream of his name clearly. It was music to his ears and made him grind his dick against the bed when her juices coated his chin in a flood. Clamping his hands to her hips, his hold kept her from thrashing away from him until she stopped clutching him to her and started shoving him away. As soon as he’d removed himself from between her thighs she pulled her knees together and up to her chest, rolling onto her side. 

Grant sat back onto his heels, watching her twitch with the aftershocks. He stroked her flank softly as she came down from her high, licking his lips to catch more of that taste. Her eyes blinked open lazily to find him using a thumb to scrape some of the juices on his chin up into his mouth, where he sucked on it to get every trace of her flavor off. He chuckled lowly at her weak moan, but when she reached for him, spreading her thighs invitingly, he shook his head. 

“Sleep, Skye. I have training in a few minutes. Sleep and grow our pup.” He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her hip before sliding out of the bed. He left her curled up there to wash his hands and face quickly before returning. By the time he had, she was half asleep, his pillow clutched in her arms. Smiling at her, he tucked her under the blankets and left a soft kiss on her temple.

“I love you, Grant.” The words followed him out the door, and he knew that she’d be right where he left her when he was done. His wolf was quiet as he moved down the corridors of the base, content with how well they were taking care of their mate. 

 


	5. Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WE FINALLY GET TO SEE BUCKY! Enjoy.

Agent May might have been looking for the man in front of her, but she didn’t expect to round a corner and find him less than thirty feet away. she  _ certainly  _ didn’t expect him to be planting C4 against one of the exposed pipes running across the ceiling. Fear spiked down her spine when her eyes landed on the words ‘Natural Gas’ painted on the pipe he was sticking the C4 to. 

Before she could say anything to him, he’d pulled the red tab from the detonator cap and was striding toward her with murder in his eyes. His eyes were the same black and yellow that Ward’s got when his wolf was close to the surface. Melinda reacted on instinct and training. Between one moment to the next she had drawn her sidearm and put three ICERs into his thigh. She had to force herself not to aim for center mass, the rounds wouldn’t go through the tactical vest he had on. 

It was almost comical, watching the wolf fade from his eyes as he stared down at his leg. He looked back at her, opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Melinda kept her gun trained on him, even as he swayed and began to topple forward. He landed with a heavy thump and the clatter of metal on cement, unconscious before he hit the ground. Once she was certain he would stay down, Melinda holstered her gun and tapped her radio. 

“All teams, fall back to the Quinjet. I have located the subject and have him under sedation . Ward, I’m going to need help getting him out. Double time, people. The base is wired to blow, I have no time to detonation.” 

Before long, the eight SHIELD agents had piled back into the Quinjet, with an unconscious Winter Soldier strapped to the gurney in the middle of it. It didn’t take long for Melinda to get them into the air while Ward was busy checking Bucky over for injuries. They didn’t make it clear before chaos reigned around them. Melinda watched as the far end of the flat farmland bulged upward and then collapsed. The shockwave rocked the Quinjet, enough to have Ward stumbling a few steps, but it was the farmhouse directly under them exploding into kindling that had Melinda grasping the stick tighter as she tried to keep control of the bucking jet. 

“What the fuck was that?!” Ward called from behind her, but Melinda elected to not take a guess. She was pretty certain that even though she’d seen him set the explosives on a gas line, that wasn’t what had blown. Instead, she turned the jet back toward the base, and hoped that they’d get there before Bucky woke up. Having a pissed off wolf in the back of a Quinjet was not a good thing in any circumstance. Having one who thought they were enemies? Melinda pushed the throttle forward another increment. 

***

Skye stood behind the lab’s thick glass and watched May and Grant rush past, pushing a gurney with a man strapped to it. Even with only a couple of glimpses of him, she could see that he was too thin and deep black bruises lined his closed eyes. His hair was stringy and tangled, and his clothes were dirty and torn. 

She still couldn’t believe that they had finally found him. Jemma had been gone for almost a year now, and the search for her son had been a long one. When the message that they had finally found him had come through from the jet, Skye had broken down and started crying. Damned pregnancy hormones, but the amount of relief she’d felt was intense. He was home now. 

No matter how much Skye wanted to be down there when Bucky woke up, she knew that Grant wouldn’t have it. She was coming up on her due date, only a few more weeks before their little one joined them. Grant was overprotective and clingy, something that was only getting more intense the closer the end came. 

Just because she couldn’t be there when he woke up, didn’t mean she couldn’t do something to help. With that in mind, she made her way toward one of the empty quarters, intent on getting it ready for him to use. 

***

It was the pounding between his temples that finally woke him. A headache that felt like it was going to split his skull down the center and leave his brain to ooze out his ears. Groaning, Bucky went to lift his right arm to rub at the throbbing above his left eye, but stopped when he felt resistance. A quick inhale through his nose and a tensing of his muscles told him all he needed to know. 

He was in an unknown room, one that smelled faintly of industrial cleaners, fresh linens and mold, and he was strapped to a thin mattress in a four point restraint. Whoever had made that choice must have  been new, because from the texture on his wrist, they had used simple leather. That wouldn’t hold Bucky for longer than a few seconds, and only that long because his limbs still felt heavy from whatever they had shot him full of. 

Bucky breathed deep again and registered the scent of two people, one human, the other a wolf. The human smelled of strong soap and just a hint of gun oil. It was the scent of the wolf, though, that had his eyes snapping open. Bucky had never met a wolf that smelled like that, and his own beast whispered ‘mated’ to him. Under the strong scent of leather and sweat was lemon, mint and something honey sweet. 

Blinking several times, trying to ignore the way the overhead lights were stabbing through his skull, Bucky lifted his head to stare at them. They were standing several feet away, and when they noticed he was awake, the woman pressed her palm to the small control panel they were standing next to. It wasn’t until the buzzing stopped, that Bucky recognized the force shield that had been separating them. 

It was the same woman he’d seen in the base that was now striding toward him, the one who’d come rushing around the corner and scared the crap out of him . The one that had shot him with whatever the hell had knocked him out. What could have done that? Even the Handlers had had trouble taking him down, and they’d had training specifically for that. 

Forcing his muscles to relax, he watched her release his right hand. A quick situational assessment told him the best way of dealing with the situation, and he waited. 

“I have to ask, what did you do that left that base as a crater filled with so many toothpicks?” The wolf asked, drawing his attention away from the woman for a split second, just long enough for her to rotate on the ball of her foot to reach his ankle. 

“The boilers. They were old, and the safeties were easy enough to disable.” Bucky timed it perfectly, the woman had taken a half a step further down the gurney and the man had a slightly glazed look in his eyes as he thought through what Bucky had said. It felt almost easy, too easy, but the crunch as the woman hit the frame of the cell door was satisfying. At least one of her ribs were broken, and she’d have a bruise between her shoulderblades where his boot had hit. He hadn’t bothered to pull the kick, so she’d hit with enough force that she bounced and then rolled across the floor outside the cell. 

Bucky didn’t bother to unshackle his other wrist, just sat up, tore the restraint loose and reached for his still bound ankle. But he was too slow, or he’d miscalculated, because before he’d managed to release himself the buzzing was back, and the barrier locking him in the cell shimmered into view. 

Panting slightly as panic raced down his spine, Bucky rose to his feet and approached the barrier. It didn't matter if the thought of being locked in here scared him, he would never let these fuckers see that. A quick tap with his metal hand showed him that it wasn’t even electrified. Stupid. Enough force and he’d probably be able to break through it, no matter what it was made from. 

“Not a single one of you has had any kind of training in containing me, have you? Because if you had, you’d have known better than to release me. Only two of you? One who’s not even enhanced!? Rookie mistake! One that will cost you your lives! You should have at least half a dozen down here, all with guns drawn and leveled on me!” With the last word he pulled back and punched the barrier with every ounce of strength he could muster. It wavered strongly as the metal of his fist hit it. The look of shock on the man’s face was enough to bring a wicked grin to Bucky’s, and he knew that his wolf was peering out of his eyes. 

“We’re not HYDRA!” The man screamed, taking a half step back as Bucky punched the barrier a second time. It flickered, just enough that the acrid scent of panic started rolling off the wolf in front of him. 

Before Bucky could hit the barrier a third time a picture appeared on it. The woman there was pretty, long brown hair and large liquid brown eyes. Her thin straight nose and pointed chin were ones that he knew very well, for the face he stared at was that of his mother. 

“What?! What kind of trick is this!?” Bucky screamed, but he stopped trying to break out. Too busy staring at his mother’s face, younger than he’d ever seen it, projected larger than life in front of him. He hadn’t seen that face since before the Expo, all those decades ago, but if he concentrated hard enough he could still remember the smell of her perfume. So much of his memory was gone, or wrong, but that smell was still there. A soft voice coming from the top of the stairs drew his attention and his nose told him that this woman was the mate of the wolf who’d locked him in here. 

“Your file says that your mother’s name was Winifred. We knew her as Jemma, and she was Pack. Over a year ago we were on a mission, looking for people who’d gone missing inside a high school. She was taken.” The woman kept talking, even as she slowly made her way down the stairs. It wasn’t until he saw her in profile that he understood why she moved so carefully. Bucky couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a pregnant woman, but this one must have been close to giving birth. 

“You’re not making any sense.” He snarled out, feeling his hands curl into fists at his sides. Bucky turned his dead-eyed glare onto the other man in the room when a vicious snarl sounded from him. The other man looked away first, but Bucky didn’t think it had anything to do with him being less dominant, and everything to do with the soft sigh the woman coming down the stairs made. 

“I know it’s hard to understand, Bucky. But please just try. Jemma was sent into the past, we’re not sure to what year. She somehow managed to get us a letter, and it explained a lot of things. You can read it if you’d like.” The woman clutched at her mate’s arm as she came to the bottom of the stairs, and Bucky could see her stomach jerk and thump. He was so entranced by that little bit of movement, and the implication of what this woman was saying that it took him far longer than it should have to notice she’d called him by name. 

“You… know my name?” He whispered it, stumbling back to sit heavily on the gurney. A shuffling beyond the barrier drew his attention and he felt guilt well up in his gut as the woman he’d kicked struggled back to her feet. If these people were really friends of his mother, if the story they were telling wasn’t a lie, he’d attacked one of the few allies he may have. 

“Your name… is James… Buchanan Barnes. Your mother was a brilliant scientist and a dear friend. My name is Melinda May.” Melinda limped forward, one of her arms wrapped around her ribs as she huffed through her nose in pain. Bucky flinched at the name and deflated. 

“May the Dragon, who’s hoard wasn’t gems and gold, but friends. She told me bedtime stories about you. About a dragon who didn’t want to fight anymore, but didn’t hesitate to defend her friends.” Bucky’s voice was raspy, and he felt prickling behind his eyes that told him he was close to tears. Even as he sat there, more memories flooded through him. Memories of his sweet mother with the spine of steel. The one who’d taught him to love science in all forms. 

“I’m Grant Ward. Your mother was Pack, and I was the one who was supposed to be guarding her when that monster took her from us. I’m sorry.” The wolf spoke, and Bucky couldn’t help but look up at him again, because this was the wolf in his mother’s stories. The one who came out of the woods, not to hunt the sheep but to protect them. 

His mother hadn’t read these stories as a child. She had written them, as a way to keep these people close to her. 

“Skye. My name is Skye and Jemma was one of the first real friends I ever had.” Bucky couldn’t stop the tears this time. Sweet Skye, the angel that looked over the family. The one who was always watching, always protecting. 

“She named my little sister after you. Becca, her middle name was Skye.” His voice cracked on his baby sister’s name and what little resolve he had broke with it. Pulling his feet up onto the gurney with him, Bucky wrapped his arms around his knees and allowed himself to cry. He was safe, he was home, and he had a pack. A few moments later he felt hands on his shoulders, and then he was being hugged. Even though he wanted to shy away from the touch, expecting pain to follow soon after, his wolf grumbled out a soft noise and he went limp instead. They wouldn’t hurt him. 

***

It was several hours later that Melinda finally tracked him down. Ever since the painkillers had kicked in and she could breathe properly she’d been searching. That fucking wolf was going to get it. Maybe it was the meds talking, but if Bucky could send her flying that easily, while strapped to a bed on his back for that matter, then Ward had been holding back on her. 

Ward was bent over in front of the fridge in the rec room, one hand holding the door open, the other idly scratching at his stomach through his shirt. Melinda couldn’t have asked for a better set up. Even as her ribs screamed at her (two broken, three cracked, the rest bruised all to hell), she kicked the door closed on his head. 

He yelped, but didn’t seem any worse for wear when he stood up to glare at her over the door. After a moment of the two of them glaring at each other, Melinda planted one hand on her hip and jabbed a finger into his chest with the other. 

“You’ve been holding back during training!” The sheepish look on his face was enough to tell her that it had been intentional. It was enough of a confirmation that she knew it wasn’t just the pain killers messing with her logic. Glaring, Melinda spun on her heel and stormed out as fast as she could with her injury. Fucking Wolves! 


End file.
